lalaland 拉拉鍊

Weird Jobs by Michael J. Rosen, Ben Kassoy

DEFENDER OF THE PLANET - ORBITAL DEBRIS SCIENTIST

Half a million pieces of space trash orbit planet Earth. These objects whiz around at something like 20,000 miles (32,187 km) per hour. That could spell bad news for earthlings. Let's say some speeding trash hits a spacecraft or a satellite. Smash! If only the twinkling stars in the sky were stoplights.

Thankfully, orbital debris scientist Nick Johnson is here to defend the planet.

"Spacecraft are always throwing things off," Johnson explains. An orbiting object as tiny as a paint chip can break a spaceship window. A lost screw could poke a hole in a satellite! Worse, each crash can chip off yet more debris.

Johnson is part of a team at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The NASA team tracks the position and movement of space waste. It uses math to figure out when crashes might happen. When the chance is greater than one in ten thousand, the team works to get the debris out of the way.

If a spacecraft is in danger, Johnson orders the astronauts to change the flight path. But sometimes Earth itself is at risk. In 2006, a busted satellite was barreling toward our home planet! Johnson gave advice to the U.S. President himself. "We struck it with a missile," Johnson says. "Eliminated the threat."

And you were worried about an alien invasion? Please!

重點單字：

1. Orbit - (星球）運行軌道
2. Spacecraft - 太空船
3. Satellite - 人造衛星
4. Orbital debris scientist - 研究軌道運行碎片的科學家
5. Astronaut - 太空人
6. Missile - 飛彈
7. Eliminate - 消除
8. Earthlings - 地球人
9. Defend - 捍衛
10. alien - 外星人 （異己的）
11. Invasion - 入侵

填空練習：

1. They are ready against the possible _______.
2. I wanted to be the first ______ to set foot on the moon.
3. The satellite will remain in _______ for several years.
4. They had many wonderful things to teach ________, especially about time.
5. The US Open will be transmitted live via _______.
6. Try to _______ fatty foods from your diet.
7. A tiger has a large territory to _______.
8. The _______ made a successful reentry into the earth's atmosphere.
9. The enemy's ship was hit by our _______.
10. They spoke a language totally ________ to him.